2013 Fantasy Baseball: Aroldis Chapman Is Curious Case

By Andy Schmidt

Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The 2013 fantasy baseball season is just around the corner and there is one player that produced in great numbers for owners in 2012 who will switch positions, it appears this coming season. That would be Aroldis Chapman, who is scheduled to switch to a starter for the Cincinnati Reds after being the team’s closer last year. That move makes a huge difference on where to draft Chapman this year.

If Chapman remains a starter, he should finish with between 12-15 wins and an ERA around 3.80 and will also not be able to throw over 100 MPH all the time as he can do in the bullpen. If the Reds do decide to leave Chapman as a closer, I would expect 40-45 saves with an ERA near 2.20. I believe Chapman is too dominant as a closer to move him to the starting rotation but that’s where Cincinnati wants to put him since the team re-signed Jonathan Broxton in the off-season.

If I was drafting today with the belief that Chapman is a starter, I would select Chapman in the eighth round around pick 84. I can see many people wanting to go much higher with Chapman but as of this writing, that is where I’m sticking Chapman. If he goes back to the bullpen, I would think differently and probably go a round later as closers are a dime a dozen and shift a lot. This will definitely be an interesting move for Chapman and for fantasy owners to figure out what exactly they want to do.

Andy Schmidt is a columnist/writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @ASchmidtSports, like his Facebook page or add him to your network on Google.